MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WHOLE GANG!

Jolly Ol' St. Nick

This is the first Christmas that the boys have really been interested in Santa Claus. It has not taken them long to learn the "rules" of Santa...the reindeer, the chimney, the being nice (not naughty), and of course the presents! Just a little side note: I personally was never a huge fan of Santa as a child and I was quite young, probably four or five years old, when I revealed to my mother that I knew that she and dad "were Santa". With that said, I am finding it difficult to play into the whole 'magic' of Christmas, but I am also trying not to be Mrs. Scrooge and let the boys have their Santa fun and pray that it is sooner than later that they come to know the truth about the big man in the red suit. So rather than dismissing the Santa tradition (and being labeled the weird, over bearing mom that doesn't let her children fantasize) I decided to teach them a bit about the REAL St. Nicholas. With the help of the Internet, a trip to the library and our new Veggie Tales DVD(given to us by MeMaw Bobbie), we began learning about the generosity and compassion of a deeply religious man for whom our current day Santa was based upon. I had heard before that a man named St. Nicholas existed, but never knew the story in its entirety. I will spare you all the details and rather encourage anyone reading this post to check him out for yourself. I know that you will be pleased and possibly enlightened to learn of his remarkable acts and deep love of the Lord. Now, in the spirit of commercialized Christmas, I couldn't NOT take the boys to visit Santa Claus. So yesterday we headed to the mall for a cheesy picture and a chance to let Santa know what was on their wish lists. Just as I suspected might happen, Beau wanted nothing to do with him and at first glance clung to my leg and hid his sweet little face. Tytus in his usual cautious manner, slowly approached him and eased himself up on Santa's lap. I am convinced that Ty's desire for the new guitar that he has been asking for for months was all the motivation he needed to talk to this large bearded man. And Cash just smiled and laughed and was happy and adorable like he most always is. After a few minutes of coercing, I was able to get Beau to get close enough to Santa's chair so that he would be in the picture and I would not (except for my leg). I think the death grip on Big Brothers hand and 'deer in the headlights' look in his eyes says it all. Once the picture was taken and Tytus told Santa that he wanted a guitar and spoke on Beau's behalf that he wants a "treat" (that is all Beau will say he wants for Christmas...no toys, no games, no balls..."just a treat") then we went on our merry way. Memories were made, with a not too shabby photograph to prove it!!

O Christmas Tree, O-S-U Tree...

I love Christmas trees. In fact someday I plan to have one in every room of my house! Usually I put up three, but this year with the addition of another baby in the house as well as two very eager-to-help little boys, I settled for only putting up two trees. I am collecting OSU ornaments and over the years my Cowboys inspired tree will grow bigger and bigger. The boys helped with the main tree, so it is a little 'patchy' in places, but perfect for our life right now. I have had to surrender some of my creative control, but we had a lot of fun decorating the tree and they were very proud it.

The Christmas Story (Revised)

In my determination to teach the boys about Jesus' birth and the true meaning of Christmas, I have come to realize that I may have left out some crucial information. Tonight at dinner Tytus began retelling the story to us and was doing a fantastic job. When he got to the part about King Herod "tricking the wise men" and plotting to kill all the baby boys, Beau clearly became aggravated. With teeth clenched and passion in his eyes, he began to proclaim, "that mean King Herod is not nice, he will not kill all the babies, and when he comes to our house we will all tell him that he is not gonna kill baby Jesus and he is not gonna kill baby Cash!" Oops...I forgot to mention that the story took place thousands of years ago (not that they have a very accurate reference to time), and that although it is a very real and important story, the characters are no longer living. He proceeded to say that he would kill King Herod with his toy chainsaw (and no, we do not let our children watch horror movies, but he has seen his father cut down trees and knows that a chainsaw can do some serious damage!) I am pleased that they are both so interested in the details of the nativity story as well as Christ's crucifixion and resurrection and I am praying daily that the Holy Spirit will give me the words to teach them and answer their questions. I am also learning that some things can not be left unsaid!

Christmases of Past

I thought it would be fun to post our Christmas pictures from the past few years. Wow, have we changed! Our little family has grown from just the two of us to a family of five in just seven Christmases. These pictures kind of tell the story of where we have been since getting married in 2003. We've lived in three different homes and added three beautiful boys into the mix (and my hair has been just about every color on the spectrum!) Life has been a bit of a roller coaster, but through all the ups and downs God has provided His grace and guidance to us. Brock and I are so blessed! I am really looking forward to this Christmas, and I am having so much fun starting traditions with the boys and teaching them the true meaning of Christmas. I can't wait to see how our children grow (in size, not in number!) and how our Christmas card changes over the years!

2003- Our first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. Brock Eubanks! I was so proud of that little tree and so excited to be sending out Christmas cards!

2004- Our first Christmas in our house at Jenks, OK. We had just finished building it and were still getting all settled in.

2005- this picture was taken just a couple of weeks before Tytus was born.

2006- Tytus' first Christmas. For some reason, I was very on top of things...I sent out a Thanksgiving card!

2007- Beau's first Christmas and our first Christmas in Loma Linda, MO.

2008 Christmas card picture
Brothers and best friends...looks like they are about to cause some trouble!

Beau making his big announcement that we would soon become a family of five!!

Cash's is FOUR Months!!

Cash is four months old now and just as it always does, the time has flown by. He is such a blessing. He is what people would call a "good baby", even though I always thought this was kind of a weird thing to say...like some babies are bad! At his checkup he weighed 20 lbs, and was 27 in. long. His pediatrician said he was the size of an average 9 month old!! He even had to show off a little by rolling over for the first time!! He is healthy and happy and I thank God everyday for blessing our family with Johnny Cash Allen Edward Eubanks (that's what his brothers call him!!)

From the Mouths of Babes...

Today on the way to the gym Tytus and I had the following dialogue...
T: (looking out the window) "There's where I live"
Me: "Oh yeah, that's a nice house"
T: "Yeah, my other house got hit by a big potato and blew away, so I had to get another one!"

I'm pretty sure he meant tornado, but either way that would not be good!!

A Legacy (Times Eleven)

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we were able to get together with some of my cousins and their children out at Grandmother and Granddad's house. My grandfather's grandfather, Louis Neopolean Crusha, homesteaded just over the hill from where my grandparents still live today. The land has been in our family for well over 100 years and their home is where we all gather for holidays or anytime any of us return 'home' for a visit. It isn't ofter that all of the great grandchildren are all together in the same place and everyone is awake and accounted for. So, we decided to take this opportunity to take a picture of all eleven great grandchildren with my grandparents, Silvia Darlyne Coatney Seal and Dennis Edward Seal (Cash's namesake). It was quite an accomplishment getting them all to stand in the same vicinity long enough to snap a few photos. The first picture is not too terrible...almost everyone is almost looking toward the camera!! The third picture is definitely my favorite...Tytus is staring at all the others, Cash is crying, Paisley has her finger in her nose, Montana and Trinity are posing nicely, Embassy is loving being held by Granddad, Beau is also staring into space, Parker is DONE, and Koleman and Paxton are about to drop Priscilla!!! I love it! Now that is making memories! I am so thankful for the time I get to spend with family. I grew up seeing some of my cousins everyday and we have so many great memories. I wish that we lived closer and my children were getting to grow up with their cousins, but for now I will have to settle for seeing them at holidays and special trips. It means so much to me when we all get together...I would not trade anything for the time that my children get to spend with my grandparents.

Bedlam Blues

I finally found some time to post some pictures from our Bedlam party. I use the term 'party' loosely as it quickly turned into a gathering of family and friends to console one another. Our family, as well as Mark and Kandy and their kids were all in Taloga for Thanksgiving, so we went to the Vanderwork home to watch the big game. Of course, Brock and the boys had to squeeze in a little game of their own before we chowed down on tons of game day food and geared up to watch what we hoped would be a Cowboy victory. Paxton even made signs for us to wave proudly! Well, needless to say our beloved Pokes did not give us the results we wanted, but it was great spending the day with old family friends.

Even Cash got in on some of the action!


It must be early in the game...the men are holding up their signs and still have smiles on their faces!

Mom and her best friend, Cindy.

You can always count on Karen to be where the fun is...even if she does have a book in hand.

Jessica, Jordan, and Heather...such fun girls!!


My sweet Beau started picking Cindy's flowers for me.

Cousins- Paxton and Tytus



Grandma and her six little pokes (it's not easy getting all of them in a picture!)